FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | March 23, 2021
San Antonio Zoo Contact: Hope Roth, VP Marketing, Sales and Communication [email protected]
Media Assets: https://sanantoniozoo.box.com/s/ntxvvkwgmzk9ekvsyr7rhnh0808uhlog
San Antonio Zoo® Introduces Two Hundred Sixty Pound New Arrival
SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio Zoo introduced a male, three-year-old tiger, Jeda, to the zoo public yesterday. Jeda arrived on February 9, 2021, from another AZA accredited zoological facility in Florida and was placed in a 30-day quarantine where staff monitored his health and habits. Our Animal Care staff and our zoo crew are extremely happy to have him as a part of our family. In the coming weeks, he will get to know his new surroundings at Big Cat Valley and eventually meet the zoo’s female tiger, The Royal Ja’Malle.
The 260-pound addition to our zoo family will provide guests another opportunity to appreciate one of the many endangered species at San Antonio Zoo. Jeda was born in August 2017 and was brought to the Alamo City as a part of the Species Survival Plan in hopes he will breed with The Royal Ja’Malle.
“We are very excited about Jeda’s arrival,” said President & CEO San Antonio Zoo, Tim Morrow. “We look forward to our guests seeing and learning more about him in the days and years to come. We are very proud of our role in the species survival plan for these beautiful animals. It is my sincere hope that in the coming weeks and months, the tigers will get to know each other and eventually contribute to the survival of this species through successful breeding.”
According to the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, tigers are now thought to occupy less than seven percent of their original range. Today’s tiger populations are threatened by habitat loss and degradation, poaching, tiger-human conflict, loss of prey, and other factors. Four of nine subspecies have disappeared from the wild just in the past hundred years, and the Amur, Sumatran, and Malayan tigers are all thought to number fewer than 500 individuals in the wild.
San Antonio Zoo is proud to play an essential role in the worldwide conservation of tigers. The zoo last had tiger cubs born in 2013. Continue to watch San Antonio Zoo for more updates about Jeda and The Royal Ja’Malle. For more information on the zoo’s role in conservation, please visit: https://sazoo.org/zoo-conservation-efforts/
About San Antonio Zoological Society San Antonio Zoological Society was established in 1929 and is a nonprofit organization committed to securing a future for wildlife. The society operates San Antonio Zoo, Will Smith Zoo School, Edutainment, Center for Conservation and Research at San Antonio Zoo, and Kiddie Park.
Website www.sazoo.org
About San Antonio Zoo San Antonio Zoo®, operating since 1914, is a nonprofit zoological facility committed to securing a future for wildlife. Through its passion and expertise in animal care, conservation, and education, the zoo's mission is to inspire its community to love, engage with, act for and protect animals and the places they live. The zoo welcomes more than a million visitors each year and is open year-round. San Antonio Zoo operates the largest nature based preschool in the country, Will Smith Zoo School, the Center for Conservation and Research, and Kiddie Park. San Antonio Zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Zoological Association of America, and Humane Certified by American Humane.
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